Quetta: Pakistan’s secret agencies have killed four men of Baloch tribe Bugti in Afghanistan’s Spin Boldak, said Baloch Republican Party Founder Brahumdagh Bugti on Sunday.
A group of unknown men attacked Baloch refugees in Spin Boldak, killing four of them.
The victims had fled Balochistan after the murder of the chief of Bugti Baloch tribe, Nawab Akbar Bugti, in 2006 in a military offensive in the Kahan region of Balochistan.
Taking to Twitter, Brahumdagh Bugti slammed the refugee organisations and Human Rights groups on their silence over the killing of four men.
“Brutal killing of Baloch refugees in #Afghanistan continues as Pakistan secret agencies kill four more Bugti men in yet another brutal attack.
The silence of Refugee orgs and Human Rights groups is shameful. @UN & international community must #SaveBalochRefugees,” Bugti tweeted.
Bugti is a Baloch tribe found in eastern Balochistan. As of 2008, it was estimated to comprise over 180,000 people, mostly living in the Dera Bugti region of Pakistan.
Pakistan armed forces and secret services have long been accused of killing Baloch refugees in Afghanistan.
Balochistan is a resource-rich but least developed province of Pakistan where a movement for freedom is ongoing for the past several decades.
Many Baloch believe that the region was independent before 1947 and was forcibly occupied by Pakistan.
While successive governments have promised to criminalise enforced disappearance, none has taken concrete steps and the practice continues with impunity.
Recently, fighting between the Pakistan security forces and Baloch insurgents have intensified in the region.
Baloch militants’ recent attacks have taken place in the border region with Iran and also closer to the province’s capital, Quetta.
In its 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights, the US State Department has highlighted significant human rights issues in Pakistan, including unlawful or arbitrary killings by the government and forced disappearance of Pashtun, Sindhi and Baloch human rights activists.
The report, released on Tuesday, said that there was a lack of government accountability, and abuses often went unpunished, fostering a culture of impunity among perpetrators, whether official or unofficial.
“Terrorist violence and human rights abuses by non-state actors contributed to human rights problems, although to a lesser extent than in previous years, consistent with an overall decline in terrorist activity. Military, police and law enforcement agencies continued to carry out significant campaigns against militant and terrorist groups,” it added.
The report also noted that human rights organisations reported some authorities disappeared or arrested Pashtun, Sindhi and Baloch human rights activists, as well as Sindhi and Baloch nationalists without cause or warrant.
“Some children were also detained in an effort to put pressure on their parents. Activists claimed 500 Sindhis were missing, with more than 60 disappearing in 2020 alone,” the report said.